HARTLAND — It went exactly as expected for one of the top wrestling teams in the state.

Hartland's River Shettler won this match at 152 pounds against Milford's Sclabassi.(Photo: Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily)

Hartland, the No. 2-ranked wrestling team in Division 2 according to MichiganGrappler.com, did what everyone thought it would do. In its first taste of action in the state tournament on Thursday night, Hartland pummeled both of its district opponents.

It first took down Milford, 78-6, in the district semifinals. After making quick work of the Maverick the Eagles moved on to Walled Lake Northern, and the result was awfully similar, and 82-0 victory in favor of the Eagles. After easing their way to the KLAA team title and then the KLAA individual title, Hartland can add another district champs to its resume.

It’s Hartland’s 16th consecutive district title and 20th under coach Todd Cheney.

“It’s pretty neat,” Cheney said of the feat. “And a lot of fun. For our seniors, it was their fourth district championship and last home dual. … We had 19 different kids tonight, so we rotated in some seniors who hadn’t seen some action and some other kids who needed matches.”

Jeff Putz was one of those at 215. So was Bryce Rayburn at 145.

The two combined to go 3-0, with Putz winning twice and Rayburn once.

Putz scored a pin in his first match and then won by void. Rayburn also won via pin.

Outside of the seniors getting a chance to shine in their last time wrestling at their home high school, Hartland got a chance to gain some ground for Saturday. The Eagles hadn’t faced a few of the Walled Lake Northern wrestlers, and they got a chance Thursday.

“For Saturday (individual districts), it was kind of big,” Cheney said. “We had a couple kids from Northern we hadn’t wrestled yet, so for seeding purposes it set us up really nice. We got the head-to-head wins that we needed and it was good for us.”

Hartland wrestles in Beverly Hills at Wylie E Groves High School on Saturday.

It will head to team regionals Wednesday at Walled Lake Central. It will square off against Central first and if it wins take on the winner of Warren Mott vs. Bloomfield Hills.

Division 1 at Brighton

BRIGHTON — The Bulldogs had seen Howell and Pinckney before in the regular season. Against both, Brighton had simply outclasses its local opponents, beating the two by a combined 92 points. So things weren’t exactly expected to be close on Thursday night in districts.

They weren’t.

Brighton cruised to a district title, taking down Howell, 70-6, and then scoring a 83-0 victory of Pinckney, which received a first-round bye, in the finals. The reigning Division 1 state champions are once again on to regionals.

“Things went really well,” Brighton coach Tony Greathouse said. “Both teams (Howell and Pinckney) had some guys that didn’t wrestle for whatever reasons. And it made it a little bit less stressful. With the kind of season that we have wrestled, and especially with what’s coming up in the next few weeks, a stress-free night is fine with me.”

The night started at 189 pounds and the Bulldogs just about ran the table.

Howell’s KLAA individual champions, Austin Hansen at 189 pounds and Robert McQueen at 215 pounds, didn’t partake in the meet, the reason likely being to save the two for individual districts on Saturday.

That, of course, led to the lopsided score against the Bulldogs in the district semis.

“We went out, took care of business and the kids did what they had to do,” Greathouse said.

Brighton, Howell and Pinckney next wrestle Saturday in Pinckney at individual districts.

The Bulldogs will proceed to regionals Wednesday at Holt.

Holt is guaranteed to be there, but wouldn’t face Brighton until the finals. Brighton will start off against East Lansing and, if it wins, take on the winner of Holt-Portage Central.

“We know we’ve got big guns who can put up points and win against almost anybody,” said Greathouse of what he’s looking for from his team going forward. “But all the duals we’ve lost is because we’ve been unable to limit bonus points and win some of the close matches. … We’re starting to do that now.”